Survey Roundup: Women Take Step Back in Board Representation

A look at some recent surveys and reports dealing with risk and compliance issues. Send surveys and reports to ben.dipietro@wsj.com.

Equality Is Evasive: A report from executive search firm Heidrick & Struggles found 28% of board seat appointments at Fortune 500 companies in 2016 went to women, down from 30% in 2015--the first decline since the company began tracking in 2009. Minority appointments the past four years averaged 20%, up from the 16% average between 2009-2012. Of the 421 board appointments made in 2016, 315—nearly 75%--had prior board experience.

In 2014 “we projected that, at the then current growth rate, women would account for 50% of new directors for the first time in 2024,” stated the report. “Now, given the decline in the growth rate in 2016, parity will not arrive until 2032.”

Don’t Find Don’t Tell: A survey of around 500 professionals in audit, risk management and compliance by risk management software firm ACL found 63% said a majority of the fraud conducted in their business is not detected and more than 75% of the fraud that's found isn't reported.

Third-Party Prognosis: A survey of compliance and ethics executives by executive event planning firm Consero found 41% said their group’s third-party risk-management program is effective or very effective.

Environmental Focus: A look by EY at the 2017 proxy season found shareholder support for proposals requesting a report on how a company is addressing climate risk rose to 43% this year from 7% in 2011.

How Much? For What?: A study by endpoint security firm Absolute and Ponemon Institute found the average enterprise spends $6 million a year on endpoint security but still has poor detection that leaves it vulnerable to breaches.

Fraud’s Effects: A survey of 155 U.S. finance executives by secure-payments firm Vesta Corp. and CFO Research found 43% said fraud risk has affected their organization’s ability to develop new products.

Be Better: A report from risk-management firm SAI Global and Towards Maturity, which provides support services for the learning and development industry, looks at ways compliance departments can improve and get better employee engagement.

Up At Night: A survey of U.S.-based general counsel and in-house attorneys by ALM Intelligence and law firm Morrison & Foerster found 87% listed hacking, phishing, ransomware and malware as their biggest privacy and data-security threat.

Generational Breaches: A survey by security firms LastPass and Lab42 found 96% of Generation Z said they were confident in their ability to keep their data safe, while 66% of baby boomers say they’ve never been hacked. Millennials were deemed the most security-savvy group.